{
  "id": "2210.01777",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2022-10-04T17:41:40.000Z",
  "updated": "2022-10-04T17:41:40.000Z",
  "title": "High-Redshift Galaxy Candidates at $z = 9-13$ as Revealed by JWST Observations of WHL0137-08",
  "authors": [
    "Larry D. Bradley",
    "Dan Coe",
    "Gabriel Brammer",
    "Lukas J. Furtak",
    "Rebecca L. Larson",
    "Felipe Andrade-Santos",
    "Rachana Bhatawdekar",
    "Marusa Bradac",
    "Tom Broadhurst",
    "Adam Carnall",
    "Christopher J. Conselice",
    "Jose M. Diego",
    "Brenda Frye",
    "Seiji Fujimoto",
    "Tiger Y. -Y Hsiao",
    "Taylor A. Hutchison",
    "Intae Jung",
    "Guillaume Mahler",
    "Stephan McCandliss",
    "Masamune Oguri",
    "Marc Postman",
    "Keren Sharon",
    "Michele Trenti",
    "Eros Vanzella",
    "Brian Welch",
    "Rogier A. Windhorst",
    "Adi Zitrin"
  ],
  "comment": "submitted to ApJ",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.GA"
  ],
  "abstract": "JWST was designed to peer into the distant universe and study galaxies nearer the beginning of time than previously. Here we report the discovery of 12 galaxy candidates observed 300-600 Myr after the Big Bang with photometric redshifts between z ~ 8.5-13 measured using JWST NIRCam imaging of the galaxy cluster WHL0137 observed in 8 filters spanning 0.8-5.0 $\\mu$m, plus 9 HST filters spanning 0.4-1.7 $\\mu$m. Three of these candidates are gravitationally lensed by the foreground galaxy cluster and have magnifications of $\\mu \\sim 3 - 8$. The remaining nine candidates are located in a second JWST NIRCam module, centered ~29' from the cluster center, with expected magnifications of $\\mu$ <~ 1.1. Our sample of high-redshift candidates have observed F200W AB magnitudes between 25.9 and 28.1 mag and intrinsic F200W AB magnitudes between 26.4 and 29.7 mag ($M_{UV}$ = -22.5 to -17). We find the stellar masses of these galaxies are in the range $\\log M_{*}/M_{\\odot}$ = 8 - 9, and down to 7.5 for the lensed galaxies. All are young with mass-weighted ages < 100 Myr, low dust content $A_V$ < 0.15 mag, and high specific star formation rates sSFR ~10-50 Gyr$^{-1}$ for most. One z ~ 9 candidate is consistent with an age < 5 Myr and a sSFR ~250 Gyr$^{-1}$, as inferred from a strong F444W excess, implying [OIII]+H-beta rest-frame equivalent width ~2000 Angstrom, although an older and redder z~ 10 object is also allowed. Another z~9 candidate ID9356 is lensed into an arc 2.6\" long by the effects of strong gravitational lensing ($\\mu$~8), and has at least two bright knots of unevenly distributed star formation. This arc is the most spatially-resolved galaxy at z~9 known to date, revealing structures ~30 pc across. Follow-up spectroscopy of WHL0137 with JWST/NIRSpec is planned for later this year, which will validate some of these candidates and study their physical properties in more detail.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2022-10-04T17:41:40.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "high-redshift galaxy candidates",
      "jwst observations",
      "f200w ab magnitudes",
      "specific star formation rates ssfr",
      "high specific star formation rates"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 0,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}